Body of missing San Gabriel Valley boy found in Santa Barbara County same day as father's extradition from Las Vegas

LOS ANGELES -- (KTLA) -- The body of a 5-year-old San Gabriel Valley boy who was reported missing in April was found in the area of a lake in Santa Barbara County Friday, the same day as his father’s extradition from Las Vegas following his arrest there, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials said Saturday.

Aramazd “Piqui” Andressian Jr.’s remains were found after several previous searches of the Lake Cachuma Recreation Area, in a mountainous area about 15 miles northwest of the city of Santa Barbara.

Homicide detectives returned to the area Friday “based on additional leads” and discovered the boy’s body, according to a Sheriff’s Department news release.

No further details are expected to be released Saturday.

The boy’s mother reported her son missing when the boy and his father didn’t arrive for a custody exchange in San Marino in April.

About that same time, Aramazd Andressian Sr., 35, was discovered unresponsive next to his BMW in Arroyo Park.

The car was doused in gasoline and Andressian Sr. had taken prescription drugs, according to sheriff’s investigators.

After a brief hospitalization, Andressian Sr. gave convoluted and contradictory statements to investigators on the whereabouts of his son and was arrested on suspicion of child endangerment and child abduction. He was later released based on lack of evidence.

Andressian Sr. was arrested again on June 23 in Las Vegas, where he apparently fled shortly after being released from custody. Investigators said he was considered a flight risk and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office had filed a “no-body murder charge” against the suspect.

During an appearance in a Las Vegas courtroom Tuesday, Andressian laughed and joke with the judge. He arrived at the Long Beach Airport midday Friday after being extradited.

During an appearance in a Las Vegas courtroom Tuesday, Andressian laughed and joke with the judge.

Andressian Sr. is expected to be arraigned Monday at the Los Angeles County Superior Court.

He faces a possible maximum sentence of 25 years to life in state prison if convicted.

Andressian Sr. and the boy’s mother, Ana Estevez, were sharing custody of the boy as they went through a divorce. She last saw her son in person on April 15, when she took him to Baldwin Park Police Department to hand him over to his namesake father.

Estevez saw her son on video during an April 18 Skype call, but a scheduled April 20 Skype call didn’t occur. The following day, the father took his son to Disneyland. They left the Anaheim park after midnight, and apparently at some point traveled to Lake Cachuma the following day. Detectives repeatedly searched that area but had previously found no evidence that the boy was there.

South Pasadena police and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’’s Department’s Homicide Division had been working the case together.

A vigil for the boy will be held at the Los Angeles Arboretum in Arcadia at 7 p.m. Saturday.